Xiaomi smartphone owners often face a nasty situation after upgrading to the shell of MIUI 12: the usual and convenient feature of recording phone conversations suddenly disappears. This is not due to a firmware error, but due to a global change in the privacy policy of Google, which owns the Android operating system. Starting with Android 10 and on, the Mountain View Corporation imposed strict restrictions on the access of applications to the microphone during the call, which effectively blocked the staff record for users of global versions of firmware.
However, the absence of a "Write" button in the standard call interface does not mean that the function is completely lost. There are several proven ways to get around these limitations and return the ability to record dialogs. Recovery requires care and, in some cases, installing specialized software or changing the region of the device. It is important to understand that each method has its own characteristics that affect the stability of the system and the quality of the audio received.
Before you start taking action, you need to understand the reasons for blocking, which will help you choose the most suitable solution for your smartphone model. In this article, we will look at legal and secure methods that do not require obtaining superuser rights (Root), which preserves the warranty on the device, we will analyze the operation of third-party applications, configuration of regions and hidden system commands.
Reasons for the disappearance of the recording function in MIUI 12
The main culprit behind the disappearance of the record button is the update of privacy laws in the European Union and the subsequent change in Google Play rules: Google obliged all smartphone manufacturers using its services to restrict access to the audio stream of third-party applications during a conversation. Previously, applications could freely capture sound from both sides, but now the system forcibly silences the microphone or informs the interlocutor about the recording if using the standard Android mechanism.
The Chinese company Xiaomi, following these rules, was forced to remove the built-in recorder from the global versions of firmware. MIUI 12. In versions for the domestic market of China (CN ROM) This feature has remained because local law does not impose such strict restrictions, which is why users who have reflashed the phone to the Chinese version or use certain types of devices_region_, You can still see the usual button in the interface.
⚠️ Attempts to install Chinese firmware on the global version of the device without unlocking the bootloader can lead to loss of warranty and errors in the work of banking applications.
If the device was activated in the Russia, Ukraine or EU region, the system automatically hides the recording function, considering it illegal in this jurisdiction, while choosing the India, Serbia or Singapore region often allows this option to be left available, since local laws there are more loyal to recording conversations.
Changing the region as a simple way to activate
The simplest and safest method, which doesn't require any additional software, is to change the region in the settings, a trick that forces the MIUI shell to recheck local constraints and possibly unlock hidden telephony features. It doesn't work on 100% of the devices, but it's worth trying first, because it only takes a couple of minutes.
To do this, you need to go to the settings menu and find the section that will be responsible for the additional parameters of the system. Here it is important to choose a country where recording conversations is allowed by law. Often users choose Singapore, Vietnam or Serbia. After changing the region, the phone interface may change (local news will appear in standard applications), but the recording function may return.
It is worth noting that after changing the region, you may need to clear the cache of the Phone application. Without this step, the system can continue to use old configuration files in which the function remains blocked. If after rebooting the button does not appear, try also changing the interface language to English, and then return Russian.
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After the region change, be sure to restart your smartphone so that the changes take effect at the system services level.
Use of third-party recorder applications
If the region change didn’t help, third-party apps from the Google Play store come to the rescue, and developers have learned to bypass the restrictions using various technical hacks, such as turning on the hands-free phone automatically or using special sound card drivers, the leader in this niche is the Call Recorder app – Cube ACR, which supports many Xiaomi models.
The principle of such applications is to create a virtual recording channel or access to special capabilities (Accessibility).When installed, you will need to give the application a wide range of permissions, including access to a microphone, phone and contacts. Without granting all the requested rights, the program will not be able to correctly intercept the audio stream.
It's important to set up the app correctly after installation. In most cases, the default recording can only be done with your voice, and the voice of the interlocutor will be barely audible or absent. You need to go to the recorder settings and experimentally select the source of sound (Audio Source). Often, Switching to Voice Call or Voice Communication helps.
| Annex | Compatible with MIUI 12 | Recording quality | Advertising |
|---|---|---|---|
| Call Recorder - Cube ACR | Tall. | Good (depending on the model) | It's in the free version. |
| TapeACall | Medium | Excellent (via conference call) | Paid subscription |
| Automatic Call Recorder | Low/Mediocre | Variable | There is. |
| Blackbox Call Recorder | Tall. | Good. | There is. |
Configure access rights and battery exclusions
MIUI is known for its aggressive energy-saving policies, which often kill background processes, including call recording applications. To keep the third-party recorder stable and not shut down at the most important moment, you need to manually adjust its priority in the system, without this step, the record may or may not start at all.
First of all, you need to prevent the system from saving battery power for the selected application. To do this, go to the battery settings, find your recorder in the list and select the "No restrictions" mode. It is also recommended to enable auto-start the application so that it is always ready to work immediately after turning on the phone.
Additionally, you should lock the application in RAM memory. Open the list of running applications, click on the lock icon next to the recorder. This will prevent it from being unloaded from memory when cleaning the RAM. Some versions of MIUI 12 also require you to enable "Above Other Applications" resolution in special features.
☑️ Setting up rights for recorder
Activation through Hidden Codes and ADB
For advanced users, there is a way to activate the recording through an engineering menu or debugging by ADB (Android Debug Bridge: This method allows you to enable hidden flags in the system that force the native entry to be activated, even if it is hidden to your region.
First, you need to activate the developer mode. To do this, quickly click seven times on the build number in the About Phone section. Then turn on the USB debugging menu in the Developer Menu. By connecting the phone to a PC, you can send a command that changes the telephony configuration file.
adb shell settings put global call_recording_enabled 1Not all models support this command, as in MIUI 12 many system files are protected from root-free modification. Alternatively, you can enter special codes in the dialing field, for example, ##6484## or ##86569726##, which open the engineering menu.
⚠️ Attention: Use ADB-The commands and the engineering menu can cause the phone to run in an unstable way, and all activities are done at your own risk.
What if the ADB can’t see the phone?
Recording quality problems and their solution
Even after successful recording activation, users often complain of poor sound quality: their own voice is perfectly audible, and the interlocutor is barely distinguishable or not audible at all, this is due to the fact that modern smartphones use noise cancellation, which filters out the interlocutor, considering him or her to be “noise” if the recording is not through the system channel, but through a microphone.
To improve the situation, you can try to turn on speaker automatically when recording begins, and many recorders have this option: the sound will pass through the speaker and be captured by the microphone, which will ensure the recording of both sides, although the quality may be lower than with direct digital capture.
It's also worth checking the recording format settings. Using the WAV format gives better quality but takes up more space, whereas AMR or MP3 can compress sound more strongly, cutting off the voice frequencies of the interlocutor. Experiment with bitrate and sampling frequency in the application settings.
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The quality of the recording depends on the selected audio source. If you can not hear the interlocutor, change this setting in the application settings before the result appears.